Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey

Current Employment Statistics - CES (National)

Employment Situation Summary

Transmission of material in this release is embargoed until USDL-15-0158
8:30 a.m. (EST) Friday, February 6, 2015
Technical information:
Household data: (202) 691-6378 • cpsinfo@bls.gov • www.bls.gov/cps
Establishment data: (202) 691-6555 • cesinfo@bls.gov • www.bls.gov/ces
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 • PressOffice@bls.gov
THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION -- JANUARY 2015
NOTE: This news release was reissued on February 6, 2015, to correct data
in table C for the employed (Dec.-Jan. change, after removing the population
control effect). No other data were affected.
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 257,000 in January, and the unemployment rate
was little changed at 5.7 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
Job gains occurred in retail trade, construction, health care, financial activities,
and manufacturing.
____________________________________________________________________________
| |
| Changes to The Employment Situation Data |
| |
|Establishment survey data have been revised as a result of the annual |
|benchmarking process and the updating of seasonal adjustment factors. Also, |
|household survey data for January 2015 reflect updated population estimates.|
|See the notes at the end of this news release for more information about |
|these changes. |
|____________________________________________________________________________|
Household Survey Data
The unemployment rate, at 5.7 percent, changed little in January and has shown no net
change since October. The number of unemployed persons, at 9.0 million, was little
changed in January. (See table A-1. See the note at the end of this news release and
tables B and C for information about annual population adjustments to the household
survey estimates.)
Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for teenagers (18.8 percent)
increased in January. The jobless rates for adult men (5.3 percent), adult women
(5.1 percent), whites (4.9 percent), blacks (10.3 percent), Asians (4.0 percent),
and Hispanics (6.7 percent) showed little or no change. (See tables A-1, A-2,
and A-3.)
In January, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more)
was essentially unchanged at 2.8 million. These individuals accounted for 31.5 percent
of the unemployed. Over the past 12 months, the number of long-term unemployed is down
by 828,000. (See table A-12.)
After accounting for the annual adjustments to the population controls, the civilian
labor force rose by 703,000 in January. The labor force participation rate rose by
0.2 percentage point to 62.9 percent, following a decline of equal magnitude in the
prior month. Total employment, as measured by the household survey, increased by
435,000 in January, and the employment-population ratio was little changed at
59.3 percent. (See table A-1. For additional information about the effects of the
population adjustments, see table C.)
The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to
as involuntary part-time workers) was essentially unchanged in January at 6.8 million.
These individuals, who would have preferred full-time employment, were working part
time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a
full-time job. (See table A-8.)
In January, 2.2 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, down by
358,000 from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals
were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a
job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they
had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. (See table A-16.)
Among the marginally attached, there were 682,000 discouraged workers in January, down
by 155,000 from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) Discouraged
workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are
available for them. The remaining 1.6 million persons marginally attached to the labor
force in January had not searched for work for reasons such as school attendance or
family responsibilities. (See table A-16.)
Establishment Survey Data
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 257,000 in January. Job gains occurred in
retail trade, construction, health care, financial activities, and manufacturing.
After incorporating revisions for November and December (which include the impact of
the annual benchmark process), monthly job gains averaged 336,000 over the past
3 months. (See table B-1 and summary table B. See the note at the end of this news
release and table A for information about the annual benchmark process.)
Employment in retail trade rose by 46,000 in January. Three industries accounted
for half of the jobs added--sporting goods, hobby, book, and music stores (+9,000);
motor vehicle and parts dealers (+8,000); and nonstore retailers (+6,000).
Construction continued to add jobs in January (+39,000). Employment increased in
both residential and nonresidential building (+13,000 and +7,000, respectively).
Employment continued to trend up in specialty trade contactors (+13,000). Over the
prior 12 months, construction had added an average of 28,000 jobs per month.
In January, health care employment increased by 38,000. Job gains occurred in
offices of physicians (+13,000), hospitals (+10,000), and nursing and residential
care facilities (+7,000). Health care added an average of 26,000 jobs per month
in 2014.
Employment in financial activities rose by 26,000 in January, with insurance
carriers and related activities (+14,000) and securities, commodity contracts,
and investments (+5,000) contributing to the gain. Financial activities has added
159,000 jobs over the past 12 months.
Manufacturing employment increased by 22,000 over the month, including job gains
in motor vehicles and parts (+7,000) and wood products (+4,000). Over the past
12 months, manufacturing has added 228,000 jobs.
Professional and technical services added 33,000 jobs in January, including
increases in computer systems design (+8,000) and architectural and engineering
services (+8,000).
In January, employment in food services and drinking places continued to trend
up (+35,000). In 2014, the industry added an average of 33,000 jobs per month.
Employment in other major industries, including mining and logging, wholesale
trade, transportation and warehousing, information, and government, showed little
change over the month.
The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged
at 34.6 hours in January. The manufacturing workweek edged up by 0.1 hour to 41.0
hours, and factory overtime edged down by 0.1 hour to 3.5 hours. The average
workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private nonfarm payrolls
edged down by 0.1 hour to 33.8 hours. (See tables B-2 and B-7.)
In January, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls
increased by 12 cents to $24.75, following a decrease of 5 cents in December. Over
the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.2 percent. In January, average
hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees increased
by 7 cents to $20.80. (See tables B-3 and B-8.)
The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for November was revised from +353,000
to +423,000, and the change for December was revised from +252,000 to +329,000. With
these revisions, employment gains in November and December were 147,000 higher than
previously reported. Monthly revisions result from additional reports received from
businesses since the last published estimates and the monthly recalculation of
seasonal factors. The annual benchmark process also contributed to these revisions.
_____________
The Employment Situation for February is scheduled to be released on Friday,
March 6, 2015, at 8:30 a.m. (EST).
Revisions to Establishment Survey Data
In accordance with annual practice, the establishment survey data released today have
been benchmarked to reflect comprehensive counts of payroll jobs for March 2014. These
counts are derived principally from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW),
which enumerates jobs covered by the unemployment insurance tax system. The benchmark
process results in revisions to not seasonally adjusted data from April 2013 forward.
Seasonally adjusted data from January 2010 forward are subject to revision. In addition,
data for some series prior to 2010, both seasonally adjusted and unadjusted, incorporate
revisions.
The total nonfarm employment level for March 2014 was revised upward by 91,000 (+67,000
on a not seasonally adjusted basis, or less than 0.05 percent). The average benchmark
revision over the past 10 years was plus or minus 0.3 percent. Table A presents revised
total nonfarm employment data on a seasonally adjusted basis for January through
December 2014.
An article that discusses the benchmark and post-benchmark revisions and other technical
issues can be accessed through the BLS website at www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cesbmart.pdf.
Information on the data released today also may be obtained by calling (202) 691-6555.
Table A. Revisions in total nonfarm employment, January-December 2014, seasonally adjusted
(Numbers in thousands)
__________________________________________________________________________________________
| |
| Level | Over-the-month change
|____________________________________|________________________________
Year and month | As | | | As | |
|previously | As | Difference |previously| As | Difference
|published | revised | |published | revised |
____________________|___________|___________|____________|__________|_________|___________
| | | | | |
2014 | | | | | |
| | | | | |
January............| 137,539 | 137,642 | 103 | 144 | 166 | 22
February...........| 137,761 | 137,830 | 69 | 222 | 188 | -34
March..............| 137,964 | 138,055 | 91 | 203 | 225 | 22
April..............| 138,268 | 138,385 | 117 | 304 | 330 | 26
May................| 138,497 | 138,621 | 124 | 229 | 236 | 7
June...............| 138,764 | 138,907 | 143 | 267 | 286 | 19
July...............| 139,007 | 139,156 | 149 | 243 | 249 | 6
August.............| 139,210 | 139,369 | 159 | 203 | 213 | 10
September..........| 139,481 | 139,619 | 138 | 271 | 250 | -21
October............| 139,742 | 139,840 | 98 | 261 | 221 | -40
November...........| 140,095 | 140,263 | 168 | 353 | 423 | 70
December (p).......| 140,347 | 140,592 | 245 | 252 | 329 | 77
____________________|___________|___________|____________|__________|_________|___________
p = preliminary
Adjustments to Population Estimates for the Household Survey
Effective with data for January 2015, updated population estimates have been used in the
household survey. Population estimates for the household survey are developed by the
U.S. Census Bureau. Each year, the Census Bureau updates the estimates to reflect new
information and assumptions about the growth of the population since the previous
decennial census. The change in population reflected in the new estimates results
from adjustments for net international migration, updated vital statistics and other
information, and some methodological changes in the estimation process.
In accordance with usual practice, BLS will not revise the official household survey
estimates for December 2014 and earlier months. To show the impact of the population
adjustments, however, differences in selected December 2014 labor force series based on
the old and new population estimates are shown in table B.
The adjustments increased the estimated size of the civilian noninstitutional population
in December by 528,000, the civilian labor force by 348,000, employment by 324,000, and
unemployment by 24,000. The number of persons not in the labor force was increased by
179,000. The total unemployment rate, employment-population ratio, and labor force
participation rate were unaffected.
Data users are cautioned that these annual population adjustments can affect the
comparability of household data series over time. Table C shows the effect of the
introduction of new population estimates on the comparison of selected labor force
measures between December 2014 and January 2015. Additional information on the
population adjustments and their effect on national labor force estimates is
available at www.bls.gov/cps/cps15adj.pdf.
Table B. Effect of the updated population controls on December 2014 estimates by sex,
race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, not seasonally adjusted
(Numbers in thousands)
_______________________________________________________________________________________
| | | | | | |
| | | | | Black | |
| | | | | or | | Hispanic
Category |Total | Men | Women| White | African| Asian | or Latino
| | | | |American| | ethnicity
| | | | | | |
______________________________|______|_____|______|_______|________|_______|___________
| | | | | | |
Civilian noninstitutional | | | | | | |
population.................| 528 | 173 | 354 | 139 | 114 | 243 | 243
Civilian labor force......| 348 | 131 | 218 | 101 | 81 | 144 | 141
Participation rate......| .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | -.1 | .0
Employed.................| 324 | 120 | 204 | 94 | 72 | 138 | 133
Employment-population | | | | |
ratio..................| .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | -.1 | .0
Unemployed...............| 24 | 10 | 14 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 7
Unemployment rate.......| .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0
Not in labor force........| 179 | 42 | 137 | 38 | 33 | 99 | 102
______________________________|______|_____|______|_______|________|_______|___________
NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Estimates for the above race
groups (white, black or African American, and Asian) do not sum to totals because data
are not presented for all races. Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or
Latino may be of any race.
Table C. December 2014-January 2015 changes in selected labor force measures,
with adjustments for population control effects
(Numbers in thousands)
______________________________________________________________________________
| | |
| | | Dec.-Jan.
| Dec.-Jan. | 2015 | change,
| change, | population | after re-
Category | as | control | moving the
| published | effect | population
| | | control
| | | effect (1)
_______________________________________|___________|____________|_____________
| | |
Civilian noninstitutional population.| 696 | 528 | 168
Civilian labor force...............| 1,051 | 348 | 703
Participation rate...............| .2 | .0 | .2
Employed..........................| 759 | 324 | 435(c)
Employment-population ratio......| .1 | .0 | .1
Unemployed........................| 291 | 24 | 267
Unemployment rate................| .1 | .0 | .1
Not in labor force.................| -354 | 179 | -533
_______________________________________|___________|____________|_____________
c = corrected.
1 This Dec.-Jan. change is calculated by subtracting the population
control effect from the over-the-month change in the published seasonally
adjusted estimates.
NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
___________________________________________________________________________
| |
| Changes to The Employment Situation News Release |
| |
|Effective with this release, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics introduced|
|several changes to The Employment Situation news release tables. |
| |
|Household survey table A-2 introduced seasonally adjusted series on the |
|labor force characteristics of Asians. These series appear in addition to |
|the not seasonally adjusted data for Asians displayed in the table. Also, |
|in summary table A, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for Asians |
|replaced the not seasonally adjusted series that was previously displayed |
|for the group. |
| |
|Household survey table A-3 introduced seasonally adjusted series on the |
|labor force characteristics of Hispanic men age 20 and over, Hispanic women|
|age 20 and over, and Hispanic teenagers age 16 to 19. The not seasonally |
|adjusted series for these groups continue to be displayed in the table. |
| |
|The establishment survey introduced two data series: (1) total nonfarm |
|employment, 3-month average change and (2) total private employment, |
|3-month average change. These new series have been added to establishment |
|survey summary table B. Additionally, in the employment section of summary |
|table B, the list of industries has been expanded to include utilities |
|(also published in table B-1). Also, hours and earnings of production and |
|nonsupervisory employees were removed from summary table B, although these |
|series continue to be published in establishment survey tables B-7 and B-8.|
|___________________________________________________________________________|